DJ out-Spiethed Spieth in Northern Trust win

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Patrick Cantlay rallied from four shots behind and got far enough ahead that Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas couldn’t quite catch him Sunday in the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Patrick Cantlay Cantlay closed with a 7-under 65 for a one-shot victory, the third of his career, and first in his home state of California. All three required making up a deficit of three shots or more. As much as Cantlay celebrated a victory he felt was overdue, Rahm and Thomas were left to rue their mistakes. Rahm took the lead with a birdie on the par-5 11th, only to drop shots on each of the next two holes, including the par-5 13th. The Spaniard had a chance to force a playoff, but narrowly missed from 15 feet on the par-3 17th and from 20 feet on the final hole. He shot 68. Thomas, who started the round with a one-shot lead, had to scramble for par on the last two par 5s, and hit into hazards on consecutive holes down the stretch. His tee shot to a front pin on the par-3 15th plugged into thick grass, and Thomas did remarkably well to hack out to 30 feet and make bogey. Cantlay, in the group ahead of Thomas and Rahm, bungled the par-5 16th by missing the green from 114 yards and making only his second bogey of the round, and the tournament. That reduced his lead to two shots. Thomas drilled a drive and was in perfect position with a 4-iron. But he sent that out to the right, trying to avoid a shot left of the green, and it bounced off a tree and into the creek. After the penalty drop, he had to play a marvelous pitch-and-run off hard pan to get up-and-down for par. But he needed birdies, and that didn’t come for Thomas until he needed to hole out from the 18th fairway for eagle. His approach landed 4 feet next to the hole. The birdie gave him a 69. Cantlay has no weakness in his game except for the victory tally. He’d gone more than a year since his last victory, when he rallied from three behind at Muirfield Village to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. His other win was in Las Vegas in 2017 when he came from four shots back and won in a playoff. At a tournament with low scoring, he had no choice but to produce his best of the week. Cantlay opened with four birdies in six holes to get in the mix, and he surged into the lead with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine. The final birdie was the toughest, a 7-iron he hit at three-quarter speed that landed right next to the hole and rolled out to 10 feet for his third straight birdie. Thomas and Rahm provided some help on the par-5 13th. Thomas went from thick rough to more thick rough and still had 189 yards for his third shot, and he ended up making a tough par save from the collection area behind the green. Rahm was in the fairway and in range, but he came up well short into a bunker, left that short of the green and missed an 8-foot par. No one else was within four shots of Cantlay. The other show at Sherwood was on the opposite side of the course with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson playing together in the final round with no fans. Woods closed with a 74 and still beat Mickelson by four shots. Mickelson, coming off a victory last week on the PGA TOUR Champions, had five 6s on his card. Both finished out of the top 70 against a 78-man field.

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Hey, it’s been 18 days since last season ended. What, you wanted a longer break? Well, here’s everything you need to know as we put the tee in the ground for another season.

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Cam Davis (+190 for a Top 20) … The 27-year-old Aussie leads off what really is a pool of candidates for top-40 plays. The John Deere Classic is wide open, so simply multiply your units where most confident. He’s 2-for-2 with a scoring average of 69.25 at TPC Deere Run, but he’s still chasing his first top 50 in the tournament. In his last dozen starts this season, he’s connected for only two top 40s, but both were top 10s, and on relatively similar tests at that – Harbour (T3) and Colonial (T7). Ranging six feet, four inches, he has plenty of muscle, but he profiles strongest on par 3s and as a scorer. Sam Ryder (+350 for a Top 20) … On the surface for those who weren’t paying attention or don’t recall, his co-runner-up in his rookie debut at TPC Deere Run in 2018 was akin to sharing B-flight honors. That was the edition during which Michael Kim established the tournament records in scoring (27-under 257) and margin of victory (eight strokes). It nonetheless was invaluable to Ryder’s comfort level on the PGA TOUR, but his ace at the par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale earlier this year easily is his most memorable moment for fans. Even so, he’s cashed in all three trips and owns a scoring average of 67.92 in his 12 loops of the par 71. While he’s 95th in the FedExCup, he’s scuffled in his last 10 tries in individual competition, so the JDC arrives at a time when he needs a boost. Kevin Chappell (+450 for a Top 20) … When he failed to meet the terms of his Major Medical Extension during the same WM Phoenix Open where Ryder made history, he tumbled into the Past Champions category and admitted that he wasn’t sure what his future held. Well, with his 36th birthday on the horizon (July 8), he’s stayed active enough not to rule out a continuation of the lifestyle that he knows best. He’s added a pair of top 20s and sits 182nd in the FedExCup to at least give himself a great chance to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. One more solid performance would cement entry at worst, and it stands to reason that it will be an early birthday present at TPC Deere Run where he’s 3-for-3 with a T8 in his last appearance in 2015. Kelly Kraft (+500 for a Top 20) … Like Chappell, Kraft also fell short on his medical extension (at the Valspar Championship) but he’s fully exempt as a Korn Ferry Tour Finals graduate, so it specifically didn’t slow him down. His form in general has been suspect for most of the season, but he landed in the Quad Cities with four cuts made in his last five starts, two of which for a top 20. Leads the PGA TOUR in conversion percentage inside 10 feet, so no one is more dangerous to prevail in a putting contest. However, he’ll need to dial in his irons so as not to put too much pressure on his sharpest weapon to score. With a 4-for-4 slate at TPC Deere Run, he knows his way around the property to optimize all facets of his game right now. Scott Brown (+450 for a Top 20) … Call it a risk or call it shrewd, but don’t base the decision on the result. The 39-year-old is 210th in the FedExCup. He’s also 78th in Korn Ferry Tour points. KFT members who also are exempt on the PGA TOUR are in week-to-week mode to determine where they want to focus their efforts. With only five KFT events remaining to determine the top 25 who earn 2022-23 PGA TOUR cards and the top 75 eligible for the KFT Finals, every week is critical. Because he’s not fully exempt on the PGA TOUR, he could be in Colorado for the KFT’s The Ascendent presented by Blue. However, that he’s opted for TPC Deere Run is obvious. He hasn’t missed an edition since splashing in 2012 and has recorded three top 10s and another four top 25 in nine starts. Last year’s T4 occurred during an extended slump that would define his demotion to Past Champion status this season. Fresh off a T10 at the Live and Work in Maine Open, he’s actually at the center of converging trends, too. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM .

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